Chapter 98: Academy

"Okay then, we have arrived."

Standing right in front of a huge gate, the leader of their group turned around. Gesturing at the two of his soldiers to stand back, the middle-aged man approached Fen. Putting his heavy hand on the young man's shoulder, he looked Fen in the eyes.

"At this point, I can only wish you good luck. I don't know nor have any need to know what you went through in the empire, but there is one thing you should know for certain. You don't need to hide your true self anymore. While it has its flaws… This city will liberate you. I hope that when you notice it, you will fall in love with it just like the rest of us."

Shaking his hand for a short moment, the leader of the patrol took his hand away and moved away, instantly disappearing in the crowd along with his soldiers. Yet, even with how rapidly Fen's situation changed from being guided around to being left completely on his own, there was no need to wait almost at all.

'I didn't even get to know his name…'

This fleeting thought made the young man quite nostalgic at once, only to disappear in the next moment under the influence of the ongoing events.

Before Fen or Arla could even voice a single tone of protest, the massive metal gate opened up, allowing a group of fancily dressed young and middle-aged men. Their robes akin to a simple, wide coat that covered the rest of their outfits, with the huge hoodies resting on their backs.

"Welcome to Gauna Academy. It's an honour to meet yet another survivor of the three nights of blood."

Even before the introductions could be over, the man that spoke for the entire crowd managed to find a way to confuse the two young people in front of him. Three nights of blood? While it was obvious that this name referred to some historical event, for Fen it could bear the name of Hippity Hoppity night since without the background information the name alone wasn't enough to derive the meaning of the said name.

"I bet that you are all confused about everything, but there is no need to worry. We will explain to you everything as we will move. But before we will begin, is either of you by chance a holder of the promotion token?"

Contrary to the reaction of the patrol leader, the way in which the representative of the group said those words indicated that he, for the change, was rather used to this particular item and the implications it brought with it. 

So far, Fen couldn't tell anything bad about this place. Just the matter of the occupation of the border town by the republic clearly outlined the general diplomatic relationship between Kinar and the Empire. With that, it was possible and probable that their outlook at certain matters was bound to differ, producing a safe environment for Fen to grow in peace. But that didn't mean that the young man was fully accepting every word that was coming out of the academy employee mouth. 

"I am."

Quickly responding to the question, Fen pulled out his token before showing it to the rest of the new group. Keeping it just far enough to prevent anyone from snatching it if the situation would turn out to be nothing more but a trap, Fen could finally see some kind of reaction on the face of the man in front of him.

"I see, that's some great news."

The man smiled sympathetically.

"From the way you reacted, I assume that the girl doesn't have this kind of token, am I right?"

Turning his head to the side, the academy employee looked at Arla. Clearly anxious and too closed in herself to react normally, the girl had to gather all her energy to actually speak up with a vibrant yet breaking voice.

"Y-yes."

Lowering her head, Fen's partner turned into a perfect illustration of insecurity. Slightly trembling on the warm air of the midday, Arla exuded a powerful aura of someone in need. Understanding what was going through her head and willing to offer his assistance even without this tug on his innate protectiveness, Fen stepped forward, breaking the line of sight between the man and Arla.

"I assume that won't be any problem? She is with me and I would prefer for it to stay this way."

Acting cocky during the very first meeting with the staff of the academy wasn't the best advice that the young man would give to anyone, yet if the situation demanded it, then Fen didn't really mind doing so. Even if he risked destroying all his chances at getting into the academy with that, if even a small part of both the patrol leader and the man in front of him turned out to be a truth, Fen would still find a way to adapt to this place and grow on his own terms.

"No, I didn't mean it in this way at all!"

Noticing Fen's energetic reaction, the man backed down with an apoplectic smile. 

Soon, following the inviting gestures of not only the representative but also the entire group, Fen caught Arla's still shaking hand and ventured deeper into the huge area of the academy proper. 

At first, the area that they moved through could be considered to be a strictly defensive measure. With the impressive and high walls of the two buildings forming a narrow corridor inside the rest of the complex, one was susceptible to any form of attacks from both sides while being unable to respond to them himself.

This military past of the object could be easily seen by the markings on the buildings' walls at the end of the said corridor. Just a single look was enough to find similar features that remained there to those that could be easily observed at the existing front gate to the complex. Most likely, this place started as a reinforced military camp, later developed and merged in the city.

"We will now enter the main hall of the academy. All of the organisational stuff is done here, most of the teachers have their offices here as well. For starters, we need you to have a meeting with the dean of this place. Sadly, only you will be able to enter, sir. Without the token, one's admission procedure goes through the normal route."

And here it was. While it was to be expected from the way in which the man reacted to Fen's statement about Arla being with him, it still caused the girl's hand to suddenly tense when she heard about their inevitable separation. Even if the next part about the procedure of enrolling in this place could be considered to be a bit calming, it didn't change the fact that the shaking that Arla recently managed to subsidise, now returned in full force. 

"I think I already said…"

"I understand, but this is the dean we are speaking about. Surely, you don't want to disrespect him on your first meeting?"

While it was obvious, there had to be some kind of deeper story behind those tokens of promotions or how the man called them. Even going as far as to interrupt the first Fen's attempt at changing his mind. It was clear that this token held a lot greater value than Fen ever imagined, for it to secure a meeting with the dean for the young man!

"Okay, I get it."

Throwing a quick response to the man, Fen turned around and brought Arla in his embrace. After making sure that her shaking subsided enough, he pushed her lightly away to get an angle on her eyes.

"Listen, just wait for me while I will be on the meeting…"

Putting a short pause to ensure that Arla understood what he wanted, Fen turned his head back to his new guide.

"I assume it won't be THAT problematic to make all of you wait with her while I will deal with the meeting?"

Given how insane treatment Fen's token gave him, the young man didn't mind pushing his options a bit further. While those people were most likely on their duty and as such could consider this kind of attitude as annoying, there was a huge chance that they would accept the free chance to slack for a while with gratitude instead!

"That can be done. But let's stop stalling now. Dean isn't someone that you want to keep waiting."

Shaking his head and putting this matter aside, the middle-aged man fixed his robe before moving deeper into the building. Following his steps, Fen tried to move fast enough not to lose him, but the wonders that appeared on every inch of the walls in the corridor that he was walking through made it hard to focus his mind on this extremely simple task.

"We are here."

Stopping the entire group, the middle-aged man finally gave Fen a moment to catch his breath. Only now did the young man notice that most of the group that appeared at the gate already sank into the building as he passed through a relatively small distance of the corridor!

"I will wait with that friend of yours right here. Dean's office is right ahead, it's doors are too fancy for you to miss it. I wish you pleasant negotiations and fruitful results!"

Sending the young man off, Fen's and Arla's guide gestured him to go away, while sitting himself in one of the chairs in a small enclave protruding from the otherwise straight line of the building's wall.

"See you soon."

Voicing out a quick farewell to the girl, Fen moved forward, quickly reaching doors so extravagant, that the young man realised how despite being not well-versed in the terms of art, he could still recognise them as… the example of excessivity. 

Every other plank that would otherwise make a simple, wooden door, was replaced with what looked like a thin to the point of being an almost see-through layer of gold and crystal. Every single wooden part consisted of intricate carvings, often decorated with luxurious crystals adding more colours and details to the scenes described by the hand of the artist that created this masterpiece.

'If that's how Dean's doors look like, then I wonder what kind of man the dean is himself.'

Unsure about what to think, Fen knocked on the doors, waited a short moment before a quick 'Get in' served as a password unlocking the most important doors in his life. Gently pushing against the sculpture of the gargoyle that made up the door's handle, Fen could finally see the interior of the room.

Compared to the corridor and the doors, the place looked fairly simple. Outside of a massive desk and clearly comfortable chair located at its angle, only several cabinets bending under the weight of the documents stored in them filled the room, at two simple chairs standing in front of the Dean's desk ending. 

"Come on in, have a seat."